Belmont Abbey junior forward Ananda Gebreyesus scored the only goal of the match just 38 seconds into the first overtime to send the Crusaders women's soccer team into the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 1-0 win over Lenoir-Rhyne this afternoon in Columbus, Georgia. The Crusaders advance to face the host Columbus State Cougars Sunday at 1:00 in the second round as they improve to 12-9-1. Lenoir-Rhyne, seeded third in the region and ranked ninth nationally, ends its season with a mark of 16-2-2. Today was the first match all year in which Lenoir-Rhyne was held scoreless. It entered the match ranked 14th nationally in scoring offense.

Lenoir-Rhyne was unbeaten in its last 15 matches and had not lost since September 9, a home loss to Columbus State. Lenoir-Rhyne had also won three of the last four meetings in the series, which the Abbey now leads by a count of 9-5-1. The last Abbey win prior to today came on September 15, 2008. 11 of the 15 meetings between the two schools have been decided by one goal.

The win is the Abbey's first in the NCAA Tournament since November 14, 1999, a 3-2 win over Presbyterian in a match that the Abbey trailed 2-0. The Crusaders had lost their last four matches in the NCAA Tournament until today. Belmont Abbey is now 3-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.

Lenoir-Rhyne outshot the Abbey 24-5 including 12-1 in the first half as it controlled most of the match. Its best scoring chance came in the first half as a Bears shot banged off the crossbar and deflected over the net. Abbey goalkeeper Hannah Kohls made 12 saves as she posted her ninth shutout of the year.

The second half was more evenly played as the Crusaders turned up the offense late. With under a minute left, Gebreyesus had a chance to put the Abbey ahead when she got behind the Lenoir-Rhyne defense and was left with a one on one with goalkeeper Caitlin Scruggs. Scruggs came out to challenge and, along with a trailing L-R defender bearing down, Gebreyesus sent a shot that flew over the empty net by a foot. The clock wound down and the two teams entered sudden death overtime.

The sudden death overtime lasted 38 seconds. Belmont Abbey controlled the kickoff and sent a long ball down to the right flank, where Gebreyesus flagged it down. After gaining possession, she sidestepped a defender, and fired a turning, left footed shot from 25 yards out that sailed over the head of Scruggs and into the top left corner of the net for her fourth goal of the year.

Belmont Abbey now advances to face the host and second-seeded Columbus State Cougars Sunday afternoon at 1:00. The two teams met in the regular season, a 2-0 Columbus State win on September 19 in Belmont.